Plan relaxation time before a test.
The pre-test window is best allocated rather than spent anxiously refreshing notes. Calming time scales with how anxious you actually feel, so a higher rating claims a larger share. Paced breathing at a cycle of roughly fifteen to twenty seconds engages the parasympathetic response, and dividing the calming minutes by the cycle length gives a concrete number of breaths to count — which itself provides the focus.
Time allocation
Calming minutes = window x (0.25 + anxiety level x 0.04), bounded by the window
Breathing count
Breathing cycles = floor(calming minutes x 60 / cycle length in seconds)
General guidance only, not medical advice. Persistent sleep problems, eye strain, pain or anxiety should be discussed with a qualified professional.
Paced breathing at around four to six breaths a minute reliably lowers heart rate and subjective arousal. It addresses the physical symptoms rather than the underlying worry, which is usually enough to function.
A brief confidence-building skim of material you know well can help. Encountering something unfamiliar in the last ten minutes tends to raise anxiety without adding usable knowledge.